


Unacceptable Risk

by Mireille



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-05
Updated: 2020-04-05
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:21:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23496697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mireille/pseuds/Mireille
Summary: Tony receives a perfectly normal status update from Peter after a bank robbery. Nothing to worry about.ThenFridayreceives a second message, fromKaren, and maybe it is time to worry after all.(Remix of "Lucky" by soft_princess.)
Relationships: Peter Parker/Tony Stark
Comments: 8
Kudos: 164





	Unacceptable Risk

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Lucky](https://archiveofourown.org/works/22469191) by [soft_princess](https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_princess/pseuds/soft_princess). 



> Peter is under 18 in this fic, but there's no sex, either explicit or implied. Make your decision to read accordingly. 
> 
> This is a remix of "Lucky" by soft_princess, and therefore some of the dialogue is taken from that fic. (Many thanks to her for letting me write Tony's version. <3)

****

"Boss? I'm getting a status update from Karen. Do you want it now?"

"What?" Tony looked up from the design he'd been working on, checking the time as he did. Eight-thirty p.m., much too early for Karen's nightly suit performance data uploads. Those usually happened around two in the morning. At this hour, Peter should still be out on patrol, unless he knocked off early because it was Friday night and he wanted to have a normal social life for once. 

Tony's own social life was being hampered, at the moment, by the number of projects he wanted to be working on and the inflexible limit of twenty-four hours per day. That wasn't unusual for him, though; even in his hardest-partying days, back before Iron Man, there had been stretches of weeks or even months when his current project was much more interesting than going out.

"Karen has sent a status update," Friday said again. 

The repetition didn't make things any clearer to him, though. Usually, if anything interesting happened on patrol, Tony got voice mail from Peter, followed by a dozen or so texts if Tony wasn't able to call back quickly. The nightly performance data never got flagged for his attention; it was just there on the servers for whenever Tony needed it for his work on Peter's suit, just like the data from his armor and Rhodey's was. 

Tony frowned. "Okay, give it to me." 

Friday put the report on screen, and Tony didn't feel any more enlightened. It wasn't a very detailed report; there had been a robbery at the Sunfield Bank & Trust in Queens. Three robbers, two taken into police custody and one still at large. The only interesting part was that the robbers had some tech that they really shouldn't have: laser guns and a portable force field. 

Tony would probably be hearing from Damage Control on Monday, after the police had gleaned whatever information they could from the two robbers they'd arrested and passed it on to them, because lasers and force fields weren't normal equipment for a bank robbery. 

Scratch that: it wasn't the only interesting part. There was also a report on burn damage to Spider-Man's suit, caused by one of the laser guns. 

"What the hell," Tony muttered under his breath. Even with lasers, they shouldn't have been able to cause that kind of damage. Peter should have been able to avoid them easily, unless he was taking a lot of highly unnecessary risks. 

The robbery took place around seven-thirty, long after the bank had closed, so there wouldn't have been any civilian hostages. Peter could have taken the time to call for backup. He knew Tony was in the city; they'd been in the lab yesterday, and Tony had mentioned that he wasn't going back to the compound until tomorrow. Tony could have armored up and been there in just a few minutes. 

Even if Peter had some kind of ridiculous idea about not bothering Tony on a Friday night, he could have called the police. That was what the police were for, and Karen could absolutely have put that call in for him. 

It wasn't like Tony had a problem with risk-taking in general. Risk was unavoidable in their line of work, but that was _necessary_ risk. You took that kind of risk when there was no other option available, or at least not one that you could see. If there had been hostages, Tony would have understood Peter not taking the time to wait for backup. 

This had been unnecessary. So unnecessary that Tony was tempted to put a new set of baby monitor protocols on Peter's suit, this time secure enough that only Tony would be able to deactivate them. 

Still, damage to the suit was a problem that Tony could solve. He'd nearly finished making a new suit for Peter. Once he got back to the compound, he'd be able to finish it up.

If Peter was willing to let Spider-Man rest until Tuesday, when Tony had to come back to the city for a board meeting, Tony could have the full suite of new features tested and running. If Peter decided to be stubborn about it when Tony called him tomorrow, he could always drop some of the newer features, saving them for the next version, and have Happy come out to the compound to collect the suit tomorrow evening, Sunday morning at the latest. He might even have the full version ready by then, if he pushed himself. 

He'd take Peter's damaged suit back with him once the new one was ready. He could repair it so that Peter had a backup when something like this happened.

Now that Peter's aunt knew he was Spider-Man, it would be a good idea for him to keep at least one backup suit hidden away in his room, just in case there was a problem and Tony wasn't available to fix his current suit right away. Peter could do a lot of the work himself, honestly, it was just a question of getting him enough time in the lab.

Also, it was a good thing that Tony had already planned to focus on that idea he'd had for armor using nanotechnology, because once he had it working for his own suit, he'd adapt the technology to make a suit for Spider-Man. 

A nanotech suit would be able to repair itself on the fly, at least if the damage was minor or limited to a small area, and anything but the worst damage could be corrected by removing and re-forming the suit. If Peter was going to be taking this kind of unacceptable risk, that was going to come in handy. 

Though Peter really shouldn't be taking that kind of risk, and Tony would have to stop by the Parkers' apartment on his way out of town tomorrow to remind him of that. Damn teenagers. He should have called for backup. Tony would have been there in a heartbeat. It wasn't even that late. 

"Friday, give me my project boards," he said, and, as they appeared in front of him, he began rearranging action items. He'd been in the zone when Friday had interrupted him, he'd finally started refining the feature set for the first nanotech-based armor. It was tempting to throw every potential feature onto it, but he wanted a working prototype first. He could add features in later without having to create a whole new suit. Once he had the basic structure operational, it would be relatively simple to add to the nanites' programming.

The biggest problem right now was how to store the nanites. He wanted something he could keep on him at all times, no matter what he was doing; the difficulty was figuring out something that would keep them contained when not in use, but would be permeable when he needed them out to form his armor.

He'd just been starting to see the shape of the solution when Friday had interrupted him. Now, instead of following up on those vague ideas, he was worrying about stubborn teenagers and their refusal to call for backup instead of taking unnecessary risks. 

"Okay, give me the last screen I was on, thanks." He frowned at his notes and sketches, trying to figure out what he'd been thinking before the message from Karen came in.

"I hate to interrupt you again," Friday said after just a few minutes, "but I'm getting a report from Karen." 

"You already got a report from Karen," Tony said. "I just looked at it." 

"This is a secondary report," she replied. "The initial report was from Peter Parker to you, via Karen and myself. This report is from the Karen AI, directly to me." 

Now that was a surprise. The AIs talked? Obviously, they did, at least to some extent. They were designed to be able to communicate smoothly, in the field and out of it. 

But this seemed like something more than that. "Okay, I'm assuming this isn't just electronic gossip?" 

Friday sounded almost prim. "We don't gossip; we exchange data."

"Fine, have it your way. What data have you been exchanging?" 

"Karen says she hasn't been allowed to make a full report. Peter specified that some information should not be transmitted. And, boss? She's very concerned." 

"Concerned," Tony repeated. "She's a limited-function AI. She isn't even as advanced as you are. She can't be concerned." 

"Karen is very concerned," Friday repeated firmly. 

Great, now his AI was getting snippy with him. "Okay, so what does that even mean?"

"She believes that you should assess the situation for yourself, but she can't provide any more details." 

Tony forgot his annoyance, his frustration at losing his train of thought replaced by worry. 

Peter was home safely. The report had said that. What was Karen worried about? If the suit was damaged, had Peter been injured? But he healed much faster than normal people, so whatever bumps and bruises he got stopping the bank robbery ought to be healed already. 

And yet, Karen was "concerned," although she shouldn't be able to be anything like concerned. So what was going on? 

What the hell was Peter not letting Karen put in her report? What was he trying to hide from Tony, and why the hell was he trying to hide it in the first place? 

Tony hadn't been worried before. The report had made it seem as though things hadn't gone great, but two out of three robbers handed over to the NYPD wasn't a failure, either. It had sounded like just a rough night out on patrol for Spider-Man. 

And Tony did his best _not_ to worry about Peter out on patrol. He wasn't exactly objective and cool-headed where Peter was concerned; he knew that, and he tried not to let it drive his behavior toward Peter. 

Peter had been Spider-Man for over three years now. Tony had to trust that he knew what he was doing and to let him make his own decisions. Especially since what Spider-Man did, taking down street-level crime, wasn't something that Tony had a lot of experience with. 

He offered advice when Peter wanted it, provided backup when Peter needed it, and let Peter use him as a sounding board for all the frustrations born of not being able to stop every crime or save everyone. But he had worked hard to accept that he couldn't protect Peter from everything. 

It wasn't just protectiveness, though, and he knew that. Or... no, it was definitely protectiveness, but it wasn't only because Peter was a teenager going out to face some very nasty criminals on a nightly basis. 

It was partly that, but also, Tony knew that he cared about Peter in a way that he really wasn't supposed to. He wasn't going to let Peter see that, though. It would jeopardize their working relationship, and that would leave Peter out there with no backup. And _that_ would expose Peter to unacceptable levels of risk.

But this wasn't just Tony being overprotective about the too-young intern (slash genius, slash reserve Avenger) that he was inappropriately attracted to. This wasn't about Tony's feelings for Peter at all. This was Peter's AI doing her best to tell him that Peter needed help, but that she wasn't allowed to explain the situation to Tony. 

This time, his worry was justified. Peter had behaved recklessly, and apparently, he hadn't gotten away with it as cleanly as he'd tried to make it sound. 

Tony took his glasses out of his pocket and put them on. "We're going to Queens, Friday."

Friday was silent for a few seconds, and then said, "Karen's very relieved to hear that."

He thought about arguing again that Karen couldn't be relieved--unlike Friday, she didn't even have the programming to simulate that kind of emotion--but he didn't have the time for that kind of debate at the moment. 

"Keep me updated," he said as he left his apartment, heading down to the garage. "Anything Karen tells you, no matter how trivial, I want to know right away, okay?" 

"You didn't have to tell me that," she said. "I've already sent the best route to the Parkers' address under current traffic conditions to the GPS in the R8."

"Good girl," Tony said, and tried not to run.

****

Tony had made good time, but it still felt like far too long before he was knocking on the door of the Parker apartment.

On the way, Tony had asked Friday to search for any information as she could find on the Sunfield Bank & Trust robbery and give him a verbal summary. 

It matched up with Karen's report, at least as far as the report went. Karen had left out that there was significant structural damage to the bank building; neighboring businesses were also going to be closed for several days until the real extent of the damage was known. Fortunately, the bank had offices above it, not apartments, so no one had been hurt, beyond a few superficial injuries to the criminals who'd been captured. 

At least, first responders didn't know about any injuries beyond that. But Spider-Man generally left the scene as soon as the police arrived. There was no telling how much damage there had been to Peter Parker. 

In general, three to one wouldn't be a problem for Spider-Man. Tony had watched him succeed against twice as many criminals before, without ever needing Tony to intervene. But in this case, the criminals had had advanced weaponry; the security footage Friday was summarizing for him--he wanted to see it for himself, but he was driving in traffic; he'd watch it later if he needed to--made it clear that the laser weapons and force shields they were using were a lot more powerful than the guns the usual bank robbers were armed with. 

And they'd collapsed a wall in an attempt to take out Spider-Man. Even from Friday's succinct description, Tony could tell they'd come damn near succeeding, too. 

Peter should have seen that it was an unacceptable risk and called for backup. The only other person on the scene had been the bank's night security guard. Neighboring businesses had already closed for the night, and the upstairs offices would have, too; according to Friday, they belonged to a small law firm that mostly handled divorces and wills, a CPA, and a psychologist. 

There hadn't been any innocent bystanders to protect. Just the bank's money, and dying for that was an unacceptable risk. 

Tony was prepared to say as much; he was already building up to it when Peter opened the door. The moment he saw Peter, though, he forgot all about that. 

Peter was worryingly pale, with a slightly bluish tint to his lips, and he swayed slightly on his feet as he let Tony in. He looked, in short, like he was about five seconds away from passing out. And Peter healed unbelievably quickly. If he hadn't had that particular ability, Tony suspected he'd have been dead. 

His planned lecture completely forgotten, Tony focused on getting Peter over to sit down on the couch before he _fell_ down, which was looking like a real possibility. 

The whole time, despite the evidence right before Tony's eyes, Peter kept insisting that he wasn't that badly hurt. Tony ignored that; it was obviously just bravado, and Tony was willing to let Peter try to salvage his ego as long as he let Tony help him. 

When he wasn't trying to brush off what were obviously serious injuries, the other thing Peter kept doing was apologizing for letting the suit get damaged. 

As if the suit mattered. The suit was a thing. A brilliantly engineered thing, but just a thing. Tony could make him a dozen suits, each one better than the last. Damage to the suit was inevitable, anyway; that was partly what it was for--to absorb damage so that Peter's body didn't have to. 

But Peter shouldn't look like this, weak and pale and in so much obvious pain, over an hour after the injuries would have happened. Tony could do a lot, but he couldn't make another Peter Parker. 

Even just based on what he could see through the tear in the sleeve of Peter's suit, Tony was appalled at the state of Peter's arm. That was clearly a severe burn, and it had been at least an hour since Peter had been injured.

He tried not to imagine what it must have looked like right after it happened. Peter had to be in agony, even if that was his only injury. Tony strongly doubted that it was. 

"Gotta make you fireproof," Tony muttered to himself. The new suit was already more heat-resistant than Peter's current one, but Tony was going to have to improve that even further this weekend, in case Peter encountered anyone else armed with lasers. This couldn't happen again. 

"Can you take this off?" he asked, tugging at Peter's sleeve. "I need to look at the wound, make sure it's healing properly." 

Tony wasn't sure what he'd do if it wasn't. That spider bite had made some significant changes to Peter's physiology. If he took Peter to a hospital, someone was likely to notice how quickly he was healing--even if, right now, it wasn't quickly enough--and start asking questions. 

That might lead to that someone wondering who Peter Parker was, exactly, and how he could have been injured like that. And if that someone was halfway intelligent, they'd be able to make the connection between Peter's injuries and the bank robbery tonight. Peter's secret identity would be threatened, and that wasn't something Tony was prepared to do if there was another way. 

So the hospital was a worst-case scenario. He wouldn't endanger Peter's life to keep his secret, but he'd do his best to avoid it. 

Fortunately, Tony knew a doctor in Manhattan who used to work for SHIELD. She'd treated Steve a couple of times and even put a bandage or two on Thor, so she wouldn't be surprised at anything out of the norm, and she'd only ask questions if they were necessary for Peter's treatment. 

Peter didn't seem to have any head injuries; there was a pinkish line on his forehead and one on his cheek, the remnants of healing cuts, but that was all. He could keep his mask on, and all she'd know would be that she treated Spider-Man. 

He'd check out the rest of Peter's injuries, and if he wasn't satisfied with the way they were healing, he'd give her a call. 

Now that Peter's arm was out of the suit, Tony could get a clearer look at the burn. It was ugly. The very edges of the area were the pink of new, healthy skin, which was reassuring; at least it was healing. But if it had taken this long to reach this stage of healing, what had it looked like before? 

Inside the healing pink skin, there was a reddened area that was still slightly burned. Then came another ring: redder, blistered, and painful-looking. It was the center of the burned area that concerned Tony the most, though; the area cut open by the laser had also been cauterized, from the look of it, but the skin around it was burnt brown, fading to white. 

Third-degree burns were nothing to play with, and if Peter had been almost anyone else, Tony would have been on the phone immediately in search of medical help. 

At least it was healing, Tony reminded himself. 

"It's fine," Peter said. "It doesn't even hurt that much any more." 

Of course it didn't. Burns that bad went down to the nerves, leaving the area numb; the fact that it didn't hurt wasn't a good sign. Tony was about to point that out, but then Peter went on. "And I think most of the bruising is going down, too." 

Tony knew that compared to the burns on Peter's arm, a few bruises were nothing. The bruises themselves didn't concern him, it was the fact that Peter was bruised at all. 

Peter didn't bruise, not for more than a few minutes. Tony had seen Peter walk away from a fight with a bruise that would take days to fade if it had been on Tony, and within fifteen minutes at the absolute outside, it would be completely gone. Smaller, lighter bruises healed so quickly that by the time the fight was over, they'd completely faded. 

By now, it was close to two hours after the fight at the bank, and Peter was saying that they were just now starting to go down?

Tony stopped his examination of Peter's arm to look up at him, though he didn't let go of his wrist; the feel of Peter's pulse under his fingertips was reassuring. 

He was grateful for a chance to look away from the burn, anyway. When he got close to it, there was a cooked smell that turned Tony's stomach.

"Bruising?" he repeated. 

How much had Peter made Karen leave out of that report? No wonder Friday had described Karen as "concerned." Her programming prioritized Peter's safety. The conflict between that and Peter's instructions would have been difficult for her. 

Peter tried to shrug the bruising off, too, but Tony tugged at the neck of Peter's suit, opening it up enough that he could see the deep purple of a bruise over Peter's collarbone. "Shit," he said. "I don't think I've ever seen you bruised." Not like that, anyway. Not that hadn't faded in moments, as Peter's enhanced healing abilities swiftly repaired the damaged tissue. 

His worry seeped into his voice, giving it an edge when he said, "You should have called for backup. You may be superhuman, but you're not indestructible, Pete." He regretted the tone immediately, but there were more important things to worry about than being sharp with Peter. 

He pushed Peter's suit open to get a better view of the bruising that covered Peter's torso, ugly and blue-black and even swollen, and he had to close his eyes for a moment. Peter was healing--the fresh pink skin was covering a little more of the burned area now, the blisters nearly gone--but Peter shouldn't be looking this hurt. 

Tony never wanted Peter to be hurt at all, obviously, but also, by now, Peter should have been fully healed. Maybe the arm would take a bit longer, but the bruises, at least, should have completely vanished. 

He tried his best to sound calm and reassuring while he finished checking Peter over. He doubted he was successful, not when something in the back of his mind was screaming that this was _not okay_ , completely unacceptable, because Peter should not be hurt like this. 

Tony realized that he hadn't let go of Peter's wrist yet, and that he was rubbing his thumb over the soft skin on the inside of Peter's arm. Peter's pulse was still strong; a little fast, but not worryingly so. Much closer to normal than anyone else's would be, in the state Peter was in. Peter was going to heal. 

Suddenly, Tony was almost overwhelmed with the urge to kiss Peter. That was an unacceptable risk, though; it wasn't going to help the situation, and it would just make Peter less likely to let Tony help him now, or to call him for help if something like this happened again. 

He let go of Peter's wrist and took his phone out of his pocket. "Ask Karen to send a detailed analysis of your injuries plus vital signs to Friday, will you? I'll look it over right now."

What Tony wanted was to make a hands-on inspection of Peter's injuries so he could see for himself what the damage was and reassure himself that Peter was still healing. But medicine beyond basic field first aid wasn't something Tony had ever taken the time to learn, and even if it had been, Karen's scans could detect injuries that Tony's eyes and hands couldn't. 

The only thing doing this himself would achieve would be to reassure Tony, and that wasn't worth taking the chance that he'd miss something important. 

The report came through almost immediately. Peter's vital signs were good, much better than they had any right to be considering what Peter looked like right now. That was reassuring, but even more reassuring was the comparison data Karen had sent along with the current scans. From the time stamps on them, the first set of scans were what Karen would have sent in her initial report if Peter hadn't told her not to. 

Peter wasn't in great shape now, but the original scans made it clear that he was definitely healing. It was happening a lot slower than it should, but at least it was happening. 

But from the list of injuries Tony was looking at right now, if Peter hadn't been Spider-Man, he'd be dead. 

Tony realized that his hand was shaking and shoved his phone back into his pocket to hide it. "Jesus," he said, to hide the fear that had gripped him at the thought that Peter could have died tonight. "This is what I mean by taking unacceptable risks." 

Peter was leaning back against the couch, only half awake, but at that, he jerked awake. "What?" He tried to sit up, but he grimaced in pain and let himself slump back down. 

"Massive internal bleeding, Peter, that's what." It was healing, Tony reminded himself. Peter was healing. He wasn't dead, and even at this slowed rate of healing, he'd be perfectly fine by Monday morning. 

The thing to do right now was to make him comfortable. Tony gave Friday some instructions and then helped Peter to lie down on the couch. He'd still be in pain, obviously, but at least he might be able to rest. 

"I need to monitor you, kid," Tony said. "It's healing quickly that I don't think we need to panic, but not at your usual rate." 

Tony _wanted_ to panic, but they didn't _need_ to, and he couldn't let himself. Peter needed him to stay calm. 

Results from Friday flashed up on his phone; Tony read them and shook his head. "Friday is worried you haven't eaten in a while. Is that true? Did you eat when you came home?"

Peter frowned slightly. "May ate the last of the pizza, and there's nothing else quick to eat." 

For a moment, Tony silently fumed at May Parker for not leaving anything in the house that Peter could eat; then he shook his head, annoyed with himself for jumping to that conclusion. It wasn't like May could have known that Peter would need something he could eat with no effort. There was probably plenty of food in the house, just not anything that someone who could barely move could fix for himself. 

Besides, Tony knew Peter; there was a good chance that Peter had skipped lunch to get ahead on his homework so that he could spend more time out in the neighborhood as Spider-Man this weekend. He'd done it before. 

He'd even gotten dizzy in the lab once, insisting he was fine until Tony figured out that the kid had gone twenty hours with nothing to eat but a granola bar because he'd been too busy. It didn't matter how much food was in the Parker kitchen if Peter forgot to eat it. 

He had to stop doing that. Peter had the same kind of metabolism that Steve had had--that Steve still had, presumably, since Tony figured he'd have heard, somehow, if Steve were dead, but that was irrelevant. He needed a lot of fuel to keep himself going.

Definitely more than nothing, especially when he had an injury to heal. 

On the bright side, this was one of the kinds of problems Tony was very good at solving.

A quick call to Happy later, and food was on the way. He'd interrupted Happy's Friday night, but the moment Tony mentioned that Peter was injured and needed the food, the grumbling had stopped. Happy complained regularly that he had better things to do than babysit Spider-Man, but clearly, Peter had won him over. 

The next step was to get clean, soft, loose-fitting clothes for Peter, because a burned Spider-Man suit wasn't the most comfortable thing for him to wear while he recuperated. Peter told Tony where to find the clothing in his room, and Tony left him on the couch while he went to collect it. 

Without the suit, Karen wouldn't be able to monitor Peter's injuries and take his vital signs, but that was another problem Tony was capable of solving, unlike the problem of how his heart still stopped every time he thought about how close he'd come to losing Peter. 

He described the problem to Friday; her reply was almost immediate. "Five minutes, boss," she said, sounding almost reassuring. "Everything you need will be on your phone." 

There was plenty to keep him busy for the next five minutes; he needed to get Peter changed into the sweats and T-shirt Tony had brought out for him. 

It was slow going, since he tried to keep from causing Peter any more pain than he absolutely had to. The bruising was still dark and ugly, and Peter was still much too pale, but his vitals remained strong, and getting some food into Peter would help. His body needed material to repair all that damaged tissue. Once it had that, Peter's healing should speed up. At least, that was the idea.

Tony was doing his best to be positive and encouraging, but he couldn't stop the words from spilling out. "If your body couldn't produce blood at a much faster rate than normal, I'm pretty sure I'd be talking to your aunt about funeral arrangements right now." 

An average person would have died in that bank from the internal bleeding. Tony would never have seen Peter again, and that would have broken Tony's heart. Besides that, it would have been a huge loss to the world: not having Peter Parker ever reach his full capacity as a scientist, not having Spider-Man on the streets of Queens. 

But Tony couldn't let Peter see his reaction to that, so he focused on getting Peter's sweatpants up over his hips without hurting him too much. 

"At least the data Karen sent to Friday says all your broken bones are mostly healed." There would be no way Peter would have made it home on his own if they hadn't started healing back at the bank. Not with five cracked ribs, plus eleven hairline fractures and chipped bones in his left arm and leg. And that was without the internal bleeding, soft tissue damage, sprained right ankle, and the burns on Peter's arm. 

It'd be easier to get Peter's shirt on him if he was sitting up, and Peter would want to be upright to eat when the food arrived, anyway. Tony knew from his own experience that it was going to take Peter a while to recover from the pain of sitting up, anyway, so it was best to get him upright now, before the food got here. 

"There weren't that many broken bones, though," Peter argued. 

The actual tally didn't matter, though Tony was perfectly able to list it off for Peter. If there was even one broken bone, that was too many. The actual damage was far too much. 

Peter's healing factor, as sluggish as it was today, was the only reason Peter wasn't lying dead on the floor of Sunfield Bank & Trust or in the morgue. Police officers would be trying to get in touch with May Parker right now, to give her the news that her nephew was dead. 

And that was not acceptable, under any circumstances. 

"It could have been a lot worse," Peter argued. "No major breaks." 

"Think you're invincible," Tony said under his breath. "You and Steve--idiots, both of you." 

He was losing his temper again. Tony took a couple of deep breaths, focusing on putting Peter's shirt on him to keep his emotions in check. 

"A lot worse would have been unacceptable, Peter. Hell, this is unacceptable. You're not actually immortal, you know." He heard the anger in his own voice and tried to swallow it down. 

He knew why he was angry. Peter had scared him, and Tony hated being scared. Damn it, he kept finding himself working alongside foolhardy idiots who thought "fast healing" meant "take all the stupid risks with your stupid life," and he was getting tired of it. 

Not that Tony didn't take risks. But that was different. He only took _acceptable_ risks, _necessary_ ones. And he only risked himself, and that was different, too. Peter had everything to live for, and it would have been a tragedy if Peter hadn't made it out of that bank. 

"Yeah, Mr. Stark, I know. I didn't actually set out to get crushed by a wall."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm sure you didn't, but..." 

Tony made himself breathe slowly a few times, because he was still sounding angry. He rubbed the bridge of his nose; it knocked his glasses askew, and he resettled them back into position. 

Once he was feeling a little calmer, he said, "You actually did a good job out there, kid. It's a minor miracle you managed to wrangle the two robbers you did catch, after this."

"I didn't catch all of them."

Correction, Tony thought. Not just foolhardy idiots, foolhardy idiots who thought anything less than perfection was utter failure. Apparently, he had a type. 

"So because you missed one, you think you didn't do a good job?" 

He was terrible at being encouraging and reassuring, but he knew Peter needed to hear it, so he kept trying to let Peter know that he'd done just fine. And he had; he'd stopped the robbery even though one of the criminals had gotten away. 

He must have been better at comforting Peter than he'd feared, because eventually, Peter gave him a little smile.

Tony put his hand on Peter's knee, squeezing lightly. 

He should have taken it away immediately, but he didn't; he left it resting there, hopefully giving Peter more reassurance. Tony didn't care what it looked like, not now, not when he'd come this close to losing Peter forever. 

He thought that Peter knew what it looked like, what it meant, and that he didn't mind. He could lean in to kiss Peter right now, and he was sure Peter wouldn't mind, so why shouldn't--

The sound of his phone broke the spell. He took his hand away to answer, wondering if he should be annoyed or relieved by the interruption. 

"Yeah?" He'd recognized Happy's number, so didn't bother with pleasantries. 

"I'm outside," Happy said. "Just looking for a place to park. Do you want me to bring the food up, or are you coming down to get it?"

"I'm on the way."

Relief, he decided, was the right emotion in this case. He'd almost kissed Peter, and even if he managed to convince himself that there was any time and place where it would be okay to kiss Peter, this wasn't it. 

It was an unacceptable risk. A risk to his friendship with Peter, certainly, but also just to Peter in general, who didn't need Tony to burden him with this. 

So Tony headed downstairs to get the food from Happy. By the time he got back, he was sure the mood would have changed. 

Happy was leaning against the car when Tony got down to the sidewalk, his arms laden with pizza boxes and bags. "How's the kid?" he asked when he saw Tony. 

"Healing," Tony said. "He stopped a bank robbery tonight--"

"Yeah, I saw that online. They did a lot of damage to the bank." He frowned. "Should I assume Damage Control is going to be called in?"

"I would, yeah. Peter says they had laser guns and force shields. They could be homemade, but they could also be something Damage Control needs to know about." He shrugged that off; that wasn't something he had to worry about right now. "They brought down a wall on top of Peter, and besides that, he has a nasty burn on his arm."

Happy nodded. "He should be okay, right, as fast as he heals up?"

Tony sighed. "He's not healing like he should. We think it's because he hasn't eaten anything since breakfast, which is why I called you." He could have just called for delivery, but he didn't want to answer the door to a delivery person with Peter in that state. 

Besides, when Tony needed something, he generally called Happy. Why would he change a winning formula?

"You're sure food is all he needs?" 

"No," Tony admitted. "I'm hoping food is all he needs. But if I'm wrong, I might be calling you later. I'm in the R8. If I have to take him anywhere, we'll want a car where we can let him lie down in the backseat." Tony was fairly certain it wouldn't come to that. Peter's injuries had continued to heal, and food should accelerate the process. But just in case, it wouldn't hurt to let Happy know he might be needed. 

"Yeah, sure," Happy said. "I should know better to try to have anything like a social life unless you're out of the country, anyway."

"You really should," Tony agreed. "He's going to be fine, though." 

"Let me know either way," Happy said, as Tony took the boxes and bags from his arms. 

"I will." Tony turned to go back upstairs, where Peter was waiting.

****

He should have left at least an hour ago. Peter's bruises were healing, the burned skin on his arm was almost completely replaced by healthy tissue, and Tony could go home without worrying that Peter was going to need emergency medical attention.

But instead, Tony had stayed to share the pizza with Peter and watching, of all things, _St. Elmo's Fire_. Peter kept pointing out actors and saying, "Hey, he's the guy from that movie," which, Tony had to admit, wasn't wrong, but also wasn't particularly enlightening. 

He'd stayed on the far end of the couch. He didn't want to jostle Peter until his ribs were completely healed, he told himself, but the truth was, he didn't want to risk another almost-kiss, because this time, he might not have left it at "almost." 

The smart thing to do would have been to leave, he knew that, but he didn't want to leave until he was absolutely certain that food and fluids had kicked Peter's healing factor back into gear. 

After he'd eaten one of the pizzas in about five minutes flat, Peter had admitted that, just as Tony had expected, he had skipped lunch this afternoon to study for an English test, and he'd been nervous enough about the test that he'd only had a piece of toast for breakfast, too. No wonder his body hadn't had the energy to repair the damage he'd taken at the bank. 

But he was looking a lot better than he had when Tony got there. The color was back in his face, and he was moving more easily, not wincing when he reached for another slice of pizza. 

Tony moved over on the couch and had Peter raise up his T-shirt so that he could check on the bruising. It wasn't gone yet, but it had faded so that it looked a few days old, not fresh and dark. He ran his fingers lightly over Peter's skin, trying to keep his touch clinical rather than affectionate. 

It had been so much easier when Peter had been in pain. Now that he was feeling better, Tony had a harder time resisting the urge to caress the skin under his fingertips. 

He had to stop thinking like that. "I wish I could heal as fast as you do, to be honest. Hell of a power to have in our line of work," he said, the words a distraction from the warmth of Peter's skin against his own. 

Peter said something in reply, but Tony didn't really process it; the attempt at distraction had failed completely. All he could think about was how much he wanted to be touching Peter properly, not this impersonal medical examination. No, it was simpler than that: all the could think about was how much he wanted Peter. 

They were sitting so close now, and just like before, Tony realized that if he'd just leaned forward a little, he'd be kissing Peter. 

Peter was looking him right in the eye, and Tony felt like Peter's thoughts were running along the same lines as his own. He'd felt that way several times before tonight; it was one of the reasons it was so difficult to shake this inappropriate attraction to Peter. If Tony hadn't thought it was reciprocated, he could have made himself get over it. Maybe. 

"Mr. Stark," Peter said, and then hesitated. 

"Peter." Tony paused, because he didn't know what he should say next, any more than Peter did. 

No. Not quite true. He should be saying, "No," but he didn't think he could make himself do that. 

"Please." Peter's voice was just a little louder than a whisper. 

He wondered if Peter had any idea what he was asking for. What it sounded like he was asking for, anyway. 

Maybe that wasn't really what Peter was doing. Tony could just be reading into the situation what he wanted to see there. 

But then, after what felt like an incredibly long time, Peter said, "I want to kiss you, please." 

"Peter," Tony said again, and then paused again. What he wanted to do was to say "Yes, of course." 

He shouldn't. He wasn't sure if he could stop himself, though. 

And then, before Tony had to make that decision, Peter kissed him. 

For a second, Tony's brain shorted out, stunned by Peter taking the decision out of his hands. But Peter kept kissing him, his hand resting on the back of Tony's neck. "Please," Peter murmured again, his lips still almost touching Tony's. 

Tony knew all the reasons why this was probably a terrible idea, but he also knew that Peter could have died tonight. If his injuries had been just a little worse--if Karen hadn't tried to get around the instructions Peter gave her--Peter would have died right there, his healing factor too sluggish from lack of protein to respond in time. Peter would have died, and he wouldn't ever have known how much Tony loved him. 

Peter might have promised to be more careful, but Tony knew that wouldn't last. This was going to happen again. Peter was going to keep taking this kind of unacceptable risk. Tony could lose him tomorrow, next week, next year. Or never, but he couldn't bet on that. Peter could still die without knowing how Tony felt. 

That was something Tony wasn't willing to risk. 

He gave into instinct, pulling Peter onto his lap and holding him tightly as they kissed again. Peter had healed well; Tony could touch him without causing any pain. 

Not that kind of pain, anyway, and there'd be time enough tomorrow to worry about any other kind.

****

_The kid's doing fine,_ Tony texted. _You won't have to play EMT._

He didn't wait to see if Happy replied; he was already in the Audi, the engine running, and as soon as the text was sent, he shifted gears and pulled out into traffic.. 

He and Peter had finished the movie a few minutes ago. There'd been a few more kisses--okay, more than a few--while Peter finished up the pizza and the stupid eighties movie played on the TV in front of them, but that was all that had happened. 

Peter wasn't ready, and Tony didn't want to hurt him; he wasn't completely healed, and Tony felt the need to be careful with him, both physically and otherwise. 

Peter would be fine; he was healing properly now that he had some food in him, and Tony was sure that by Monday morning, there would be no trace at all of what had happened tonight. 

At one point, when Peter had gone to the bathroom, Tony had snooped in the kitchen to make sure he didn't need to send Happy on a grocery run. There were plenty of things that Peter could fix without expending too much energy--eggs, canned soup, a couple of frozen dinners--so he'd be able to keep himself fueled up without having to leave the apartment. He could spend the night, and hopefully the next day, resting and recovering. 

It had been hard to leave the apartment, but Tony had made himself go home once the movie was finished. Peter was hurt and needed to rest, not to spend the night making out with Tony. 

Tony could have stayed anyway. He could have sent Peter off to bed and crashed on the couch, since May wasn't going to be back until Sunday. He could have told himself that Peter needed someone to watch over him, just in case he had some kind of a relapse. 

He'd told himself that, but then he'd told himself that Peter needed some time to think. They'd just made a major change to their relationship; it would take some time to sink in. Peter needed that time so that he could be sure that this was what he really wanted. 

Tony felt confident that this was what Peter wanted, that the next time he saw Peter, Peter's mind wouldn't have changed, but he did need to give Peter that time. 

Even if Tony hadn't already planned to go out to the compound this weekend, he'd have had to go and finish Peter's new suit, since his old one was unusable. Before he left town tomorrow morning, though, he was going to stop by Peter's apartment again, just to see for himself that Peter was still healing well. 

He'd also stress to Peter that he needed to eat, and eat often, this weekend. He'd remind Peter that he should call Happy if he needed anything, even if it was just "I'm exhausted because I'm healing, and I need more food." Happy would complain--to Peter and to Tony both--but Tony knew that Happy had been almost as concerned about Peter as Tony was himself. He'd be there if Peter needed him. 

While he was making plans for tomorrow morning, he should probably leave some time in his schedule for kissing Peter on the couch. He was pretty sure that Peter wouldn't have changed his mind about their relationship, and if he hadn't, Tony suspected that Peter would be amazingly persuasive in that respect. 

Smiling at the thought of being persuaded, Tony found a Black Sabbath playlist and turned the volume up. 

Maybe he was right, and this was risky. No, he was right, and it was risky. But hell, he'd always been a big fan of taking the right kind of risks.

****

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me [on Dreamwidth.](https://mireille719.dreamwidth.org/)


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